Saturday, December 10, 2011

PlanCast's Facebook, Twitter, EventBrite, MeetUp Integrations

Image representing Plancast as depicted in Cru...Image via CrunchBaseI have stayed on a lookout for Holiday parties and today I was looking around PlanCast and I just so happened by the Settings page. And I got impressed. This might not be a new thing, but it is new to me. Now my MeetUp RSVPs and EventBrite RSVPs and my Facebook Events automatically show up in my PlanCast timeline. I dig that. PlanCast is now going to be more useful to me.

The page now also lets me automatically follow my Twitter and Facebook friends who might also be on PlanCast, and when I saw that I was a little hesitant because I have lots of Twitter friends. But then I decided to go for it. Because if you are on Twitter, and if you either follow me or are followed by me, and if you are also signed up for PlanCast, that is a lot of filters. That is like saying if you are at a tech event and you come across someone who does not have a Twitter handle that person is probably not worth networking with.

And my connections on PlanCast ballooned by about 700 people right away. And that's okay. Now I might have more events to choose from. And it's nice to show up at some event and know that there are at least five people there you already know or can quickly know ("Hey, I think you follow me on Twitter!"). You are more likely to pounce on the 200 in the room you don't know that way.

Right now I almost feel about PlanCast the way I felt about Twitter when I first heard of the embed tweet option. Although it is fair to say the two are in two very different leagues. Like Dick Costolo once said of Eric Schmidt: "We are not on the same plane, and I mean in the Gulfstream sense."

But then my blog itself is not a bad place to look to find events: December Events.

Paris Action (2)





Paris Action

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Being Able To Embed Tweets Is A Revolution



I have been blaming Evan Williams for this the entire time. He ousted Jack Dorsey, and I can't even freaking embed tweets in my blog posts. I mean, I can. There are services like Embedly. But they generate five hectares of code. A tweet is not more complex than a video clip, and YouTube generates one line of code for you to embed video clips from YouTube. Embedding a tweet should feel as effortless as retweeting. A tweet is a unit, and that unit you should be able to carry with you.

I still don't have it yet. I guess they are going to take their sweet time to roll it. Maybe days. Maybe weeks. But that's okay. I mean, it's not. But what you gonna do?

The Future of Computing


Source: New York Times

Power in Numbers: China Aims for High-Tech Primacy
Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing
Vast and Fertile Ground in Africa for Science to Take Root
With a Leaner Model, Start-Ups Reach Further Afield
A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon’s Successor
Out of a Writer’s Imagination Came an Interactive World
Looking Backward to Put New Technologies in Focus
Interactive Map
Taking Faster and Smarter to New Physical Frontiers
Leave the Driving to the Car, and Reap Benefits in Safety and Mobility
Death Knell for the Lecture: Technology as a Passport to Personalized Education
An Evolution Toward a Programmable Universe
In an Open-Source Society, Innovating by the Seat of Our Pants
Computer Scientists May Have What It Takes to Help Cure Cancer
China Is Poised for an I.T. Golden Age
New Tools for New Computing Challenges
Full Speed Ahead, Without a Map, Into New Realms of Possibility

Blueprint For The 21st Century

English: The emblem of the American Recovery a...Image via Wikipedia(1) Wireless, Gigabit Broadband For Seven Billion People

This needed to be the primary focus of the stimulus bill in 2009. Instead a bunch of money got poured into 20th century artifacts like roads and bridges. I don't think this will take more than 100 billion. At most. That is a small price tag if you ask me. Considering how central it is to everything else that needs to get done.

You do this and far fewer people are trying to come into America, into Europe. Educational and economic opportunities would go everywhere.

And it will pay for itself. First you build it, then you operate it, then you go ad supported, and then you sell it off, and end up making money on the whole thing. I am talking satellites, I am talking dark fiber. Do whatever it takes. The goal should be that no matter where you are on the planet, on land or water, we got you covered.

This infrastructure is key to every big problem we face today, starting with global finance. People who are trying to "fix" things are literally flying blind. They don't have the data with which to build a new global financial architecture, the only way out of the current mess.

This infrastructure is needed to fight climate change. You build this infrastructure and nothing can stop the total spread of democracy. All demon regimes wither away.

(2) Seven Billion People Checking In

All airports, all bus terminals, all train stations should have this. All public places. You announce your presence to a mega database. It could be retina stuff. Alongside build a huge database for fingerprints as well. And you do these two things to get rid of the sick immigration laws that exist in every country.

If you live in a city, you should be able to vote in that city. That should be the global law.

(3) Erosion Of The Nation State

This is inevitable.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

US Ambassador To Nepal On Facebook


It started here. That took me to here. And to here.

This is the US ambassador to Nepal using Facebook to step right into a controversy. If all US ambassadors did this, Wikileaks might go irrelevant, like I said in a comment. By now I have left four comments. My latest comment is as follows.
(1) Biotechnology is like software, like nanotechnology, like green/clean energy. A country that wishes to go into the future can not be saying no to any of those. That is not me saying a big yes to Monsanto. Monsanto is just one company, although a big, influential one, and some might say a little notorious.

(2) Hybrid seeds are not news. Nepal has been using hybrid seeds for a long time now. But I must admit the kind of hybrids Monsanto seems to have in mind are leaps and bounds beyond what Nepal has been using so far.

(3) A new medicine sometimes is not what it was thought to be. But that is no argument against medical progress. Hybrid seeds can have and have had drastic eco consequences. That is an argument for a much more rigorous regimen to how the new hybrids get approved for the market in the first place.

(4) Biotech is going to play a key role in upping Nepal's agricultural production by a factor of something like 10, something dramatic. Again, that is not a vote for Monsanto. That is my positive vibe for biotech as an emerging field in applied science.

(5) Monsanto does seem to have some notoriety. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto A lot of it seems to come from its non biotech moves, in how it lobbies governments, how it influences decision making, how it enters countries. The solution to that is to have a full fledged intelligent discussion. It is for the Nepali people to decide if Monsanto is to be allowed. But at this point my stand is that a pilot project will not hurt. With a pilot project the Nepali people will have something concrete to talk about and debate.

(6) In this day and age of internet and globalization that pilot project local to Nepal can be coupled with global experiences with Monsanto. There's some good and some bad out there. Software programs have bugs. The early ones had even more of them. Windows crashed a lot in the early years. Some of what we blame Monsanto for is the fact that humanity is in its early stages of using biotechnology. And so there are "bugs." The effort has to be to fix the bugs. For that a corporation like Monsanto, a government like that in Nepal, and collectively a people all have to work hand in hand. I think cooperation is possible, and that starts with an open dialogue like this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology

Monday, December 05, 2011

December Events

Christmas in the post-War United StatesImage via WikipediaZaarlys Holiday Party at Fontanas
Thursday, December 8, 6:30 PM
105 Eldridge Street
B/D Grand St

Purpose Holiday Party
Friday, December 9, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM
224 Centre Street, 6th Floor
4/6/N/Q/Z Canal St

Young New Yorkers’ Chorus presents “NOVA! – Christmas with YNYC”
Church of Saint Mary the Virgin · Sunday, December 11, 2011, 7:30-10:30pm

Entrepreneurs Roundtable 42
Monday, December 12, 2011 from 6:15 PM to 8:30 PM
Microsoft, 1290 6th Avenue, 6th Floor
B/D/F/M Rockefeller Center

Blacks in Tech Christmas Party
Monday, December 12, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
2296 Frederick Douglass Blvd
A/B/C/D/1/2/3 125 St

Annual NYC UX Community Holiday Party
FORUM LOUNGE · Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 6:00pm

Holiday Party
Max Fish · Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7:00pm

Women in Wirelesss Holiday Party
Roger Smith Hotel · Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 6:00pm
501 Lexington Avenue , Starlight Room

NYU ITP Winter Show!
Sunday, Dec 18 2:00 PM
NYU ITP, 721 Broadway 4th Floor, New York


TechDrinks XXIII: Happy Christmahanukwanzivus!
Lunasa Bar · Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:00pm
New Venue: Startup Xmas & TechDrinks
Monday, December 19 at 6:00pm
The Bloomberg Building, 731 Lexington Ave, 28th Floor

Digital Media MBA December '11 Holiday Party
GSTAAD · Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:30-10:00pm

Prof. SD Muni - South Asian Perceptions of Rising China
December 20, 5:30-7:30 PM on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 72 Fifth Ave, 7th Floor
(northwest corner of 13th and 5th Ave.)

Ignite NYC Holiday Party
8-11pm, Hotel Chantelle, 92 Ludlow Street (btw Broome and Delancey)

(FREE) Live Jazz at Bar Basque with Mike Cottone
Bar Basque · Wednesday, December 28, 2011, 6:30-9:30pm

DUMBO Startup Lab: Open House + New Year Party Mixer
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 7:30 PM (ET)
DUMBO Startup Lab
68 Jay st. #415

Naked Holidays!!
Thursday at 8:00pm until Friday, December 30, 2011 at 11:30pm
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When Sean Parker Took A Break From Tweeting

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 17:  Supyo co-foun...Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWhen Vinod Khosla Took A Break From Tweeting

Sean Parker used to tweet near daily after he finally, finally got on the service. Well, that has not been true for weeks now. And I have no idea why. But there is a strange coincidence to my tweeting him around the same time.

My Take On AirTime (3): November 13

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Sunday Tickles

RT @buck4itt: Wait. This is just sinking in. Herman Cain was running for president of THE COUNTRY?
Dec 04 via twitterfeedFavoriteRetweetReply

RT @ineedaballrub: Name your iPod 'Titanic', plug it into the computer, "Titanic is syncing", press cancel, feel like a hero.
Dec 03 via twitterfeedFavoriteRetweetReply

RT @emirkr: There's a Polar bear in my niece's coloring book; in case you're wondering why Earth is doomed.
Dec 02 via twitterfeedFavoriteRetweetReply

RT @robdelaney: Kill them with kindness! Or a hammer.
Dec 02 via twitterfeedFavoriteRetweetReply

RT @FilthyRichmond: Marriage is about the little things, like playfully slapping my husband's elbow when he's using a Q-Tip.
Dec 02 via twitterfeedFavoriteRetweetReply